It’s not usual to me to write about a recipe but here’s one you should definitely try!

That’s a speciality from the French Riviera, in the area of Nice. I remember my Grand mother cooking me this when I was a child and even if I didn’t like courgettes (zucchinis), I loved “la fleur de courgette” (zucchini’s flower). The best thing about it, it’s the perfect season to cook it !!

You can serve it as a starter and it’s even better if you eat it right after cooked it ! If you’re waiting too long to eat it, you will lose the dead-crispy outside.

Here’s some tips before starting :

If you’re planting “courgette de nice” in your gardens, you can pick your own flower’s harvest up the morning ! More fresh the flowers will be, better the “beignets” will be ! Be Careful !! Don’t use the flowers on the zucchinis but the independent ones who are on the stem. There are the male flowers and if you can, remove the stamens to prepare it to cook.

Beignets de Fleurs de courgettes:

Season : Summer
Recipe for 6 persons
Difficulty Middle
Preparation : + or - 40min
Ingredients:
20 fleurs de courgettes
150 gr Flour
2 eggs
20 cl Milk
1 spoon of olive oil (It gives a plus to the recipe but you can't cook it without it too)
Salt + Pepper
Chopped parsley and garlic (but very lightly) Same thing that for the olive oil, you can find recipes without it.
Frying oil (1L but still depends of you own a deep fryer or a deep frying pan)

Batter’s preparation:

– Separate egg whites from egg yolk.
– In a salad bowl, put the flours. Dig a well into the middle of the flour to add the egg yolks and the olive oil spoon.
Mix in slowly and incorporate milk little by little. The batter should be smooth and a little bit more thick than the crepe batter. You could add some milk if you need to.
– Seasoning with the chopped parsley (+ garlic), salt and pepper.
– Beat egg whites until they form peaks and incorporate it to the batter delicately.

Note:You can use entire eggs to gain so time. But in this case, add the half of a single dose of the baking powder.

– While the batter is resting, prepare the flowers.
Clean them delicately with water. Cut the stems and the plant-based. Open them to cut their orange-yellow pistil.
– Warm up the frying oil.
– Dip the flowers in the batter before to put them in the hot frying oil. Let them cook 2 min each side until it became golden and crispy on both sides.
– Drain “les beignets” on kitchen paper to absorb the oil.

Note:If you have some extra batter, you can do more beignets with aubergine / Eggplant. Cut an aubergine into slices, brown it in a fryer pan with a little bit of olive oil and then dig it into the batter !

You can serve it with a salad or just as a starter to your friends or family !